What I Saw: Silk
I was reading the TV & Radio section of the Guardian on line when I came across a review of a BBC series called Silk. Based on the promises of the review, I decided to watch the series which is currently in the middle of its second series. This is a BBC show so that means that there are only six episodes to a series.
I really must question as to whether this reviewer actually saw this show. When I read other TV reviews on the Guardian, I am pretty sure that the reviewer saw the show. I am thinking that this reviewer had a hard and long day reviewing other shows and when she got to Silk, she just fell asleep during most of the episodes and dreamed her own version of the show. It was her Dream version of Silk that got my interest, but I am watching the Real TV Life Silk show with interest.
Silk is a show about a woman Lawyer, there is no great originality there, another Law show. But the hook for me was that it was about a British Woman Lawyer. I was eager to see the strange customs and laws of a Foreign Land and this show does not disappoint. We talk about British Common Law as the basis of US Law, but believe me, the Brits do it differently.
There are two kinds of British Lawyers, one kind is tethered to her desk representing her clients. The other kind is a theatrical Lawyer in costume and wig who declaims from a podium in a courtroom. The first Lawyer, a Solicitor, is allowed into a courtroom, but must remain quiet and leashed to her courtroom desk at all times. The second Lawyer, a Barrister, is leashed to her podium in the courtroom while she declaims her questions of witnesses and gives her closing summary like King Lear discovering Existentialism in a Thunder Storm.
Being a Barrister Lawyer is tough on the looks. The Lady Lawyer Lead of Silk looks like Mr. Burns' assistant, Smithers, on The Simpsons.
I blame the wig. That wig is carefully constructed to make the Barrister look like a humongous Forehead floating above a black robe. I suppose the wig is worn to give the Barrister the Illusion of Intelligence of Being a Giant Brain of the Law. The Barrister also wears a starched stiff collar over her black robe. The last time that I saw any Clothing this ridiculous in an American courtroom (and yes, I have been in a few) was the Impeachment of William Jefferson Clinton---remember that? When the prosecutors, who all turned out to be crooks themselves or wife cheaters or closeted gays, kept saying all three names? Were they trying to besmirch the third president of the US? Or was that "Jefferson" a code word for you know who, the kind that are "moving on up"?
Back to the clothing, the Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court gave himself Sergeant Stripes when he presided over the Impeachment of William Jefferson Clinton.
Gold Stripes? Gold Stripes? What the Hell was wrong with Red, White, and Blue Stripes, Mr. Chief Justice? And a Feathered Headdress like an Native American Chief? Go Bold, Go Brave, Go Patriotic, Mr. Chief Justice!!! I am going to have to put the Chief Justice on the Worst Dressed Law List although a British Barrister court outfit would rank as even worse.
All the poorly dressed and hair dressed Barrister Lawyers (and I exempt the Judges---the British Judges wear even bigger wigs and they are not afraid to wear the colors of their country, Mr. Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court!) hang out at a Gothic designed Law Court and now I see where my local court building got its design. The Law can be dark and depressing and full of bats.
When the Barrister Lawyers are not at court, they are in their law offices being delivered Solicitor Briefs Wrapped in colored ribbons like Elvis used to get Ladies' briefs on stage. Evidently, Barrister Lawyers don't have to do anything but talk and argue, there should be more teenaged girls in the profession. The Solicitor Lawyers do all the work while they are chained to their desks, there must be a lot of mothers in that profession.
There is a Clerk, pronounced "Clark", who runs the Barrister Lawyers' Office. He runs about "soliciting" Solicitors with wine, dinner, and song to get their briefs (the Law is not just an Ass, it is Breasts, Gonads, and Indecent Propositions and Sexy Underwear) for his Barrister Lawyers to argue in the courts. When someone says that "The Last thing that we want is to have to go to court about this" that does not apply to Barrister Lawyers because the "First" thing that they want to do is to have to go to court about this. That is how they get their money. Barrister Lawyers don't chase ambulances, they disguise themselves as EMTs and take the clients who come to them.
What has this got to do with the American Legal System? I don't know.
Oh and the word "Silk" does not concern the blouses that the Lady Barrister wears under her robes and stiff collars, it is a euphemism for Queen's Counsel which is a designation for a Better Class of Barrister than Most. It is like a Master's Degree in Barristering.
Now that I have set the Legal background, let me get back to the review that roped me into thinking about British Law. From the review:
"starring Maxine Peake as uncompromising young QC Martha Costello and Rupert Penry-Jones as Clive Reader, her sneering posh-boy rival in chambers."
QC Costello is uncompromising, she wants to win, but unQC Reader is not sneering. He was in the first part of the first series, he was a cool sunglasses wearing Ladies man who was going for the "Silk" as was Costello, but somewhere in the first series that all came undone. Reader slept with his "Pupil" who was some sort of apprentice for Common Barrister and led a break for freedom from the current Barrister Law Office to join another Barrister Law Office that went bad. The Head Clerk found out....
I wrote this a while back and pooped out at this point, I might as well post it. I doubt that I will finish it.
I really must question as to whether this reviewer actually saw this show. When I read other TV reviews on the Guardian, I am pretty sure that the reviewer saw the show. I am thinking that this reviewer had a hard and long day reviewing other shows and when she got to Silk, she just fell asleep during most of the episodes and dreamed her own version of the show. It was her Dream version of Silk that got my interest, but I am watching the Real TV Life Silk show with interest.
Silk is a show about a woman Lawyer, there is no great originality there, another Law show. But the hook for me was that it was about a British Woman Lawyer. I was eager to see the strange customs and laws of a Foreign Land and this show does not disappoint. We talk about British Common Law as the basis of US Law, but believe me, the Brits do it differently.
There are two kinds of British Lawyers, one kind is tethered to her desk representing her clients. The other kind is a theatrical Lawyer in costume and wig who declaims from a podium in a courtroom. The first Lawyer, a Solicitor, is allowed into a courtroom, but must remain quiet and leashed to her courtroom desk at all times. The second Lawyer, a Barrister, is leashed to her podium in the courtroom while she declaims her questions of witnesses and gives her closing summary like King Lear discovering Existentialism in a Thunder Storm.
Being a Barrister Lawyer is tough on the looks. The Lady Lawyer Lead of Silk looks like Mr. Burns' assistant, Smithers, on The Simpsons.
I blame the wig. That wig is carefully constructed to make the Barrister look like a humongous Forehead floating above a black robe. I suppose the wig is worn to give the Barrister the Illusion of Intelligence of Being a Giant Brain of the Law. The Barrister also wears a starched stiff collar over her black robe. The last time that I saw any Clothing this ridiculous in an American courtroom (and yes, I have been in a few) was the Impeachment of William Jefferson Clinton---remember that? When the prosecutors, who all turned out to be crooks themselves or wife cheaters or closeted gays, kept saying all three names? Were they trying to besmirch the third president of the US? Or was that "Jefferson" a code word for you know who, the kind that are "moving on up"?
Back to the clothing, the Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court gave himself Sergeant Stripes when he presided over the Impeachment of William Jefferson Clinton.
Gold Stripes? Gold Stripes? What the Hell was wrong with Red, White, and Blue Stripes, Mr. Chief Justice? And a Feathered Headdress like an Native American Chief? Go Bold, Go Brave, Go Patriotic, Mr. Chief Justice!!! I am going to have to put the Chief Justice on the Worst Dressed Law List although a British Barrister court outfit would rank as even worse.
All the poorly dressed and hair dressed Barrister Lawyers (and I exempt the Judges---the British Judges wear even bigger wigs and they are not afraid to wear the colors of their country, Mr. Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court!) hang out at a Gothic designed Law Court and now I see where my local court building got its design. The Law can be dark and depressing and full of bats.
When the Barrister Lawyers are not at court, they are in their law offices being delivered Solicitor Briefs Wrapped in colored ribbons like Elvis used to get Ladies' briefs on stage. Evidently, Barrister Lawyers don't have to do anything but talk and argue, there should be more teenaged girls in the profession. The Solicitor Lawyers do all the work while they are chained to their desks, there must be a lot of mothers in that profession.
There is a Clerk, pronounced "Clark", who runs the Barrister Lawyers' Office. He runs about "soliciting" Solicitors with wine, dinner, and song to get their briefs (the Law is not just an Ass, it is Breasts, Gonads, and Indecent Propositions and Sexy Underwear) for his Barrister Lawyers to argue in the courts. When someone says that "The Last thing that we want is to have to go to court about this" that does not apply to Barrister Lawyers because the "First" thing that they want to do is to have to go to court about this. That is how they get their money. Barrister Lawyers don't chase ambulances, they disguise themselves as EMTs and take the clients who come to them.
What has this got to do with the American Legal System? I don't know.
Oh and the word "Silk" does not concern the blouses that the Lady Barrister wears under her robes and stiff collars, it is a euphemism for Queen's Counsel which is a designation for a Better Class of Barrister than Most. It is like a Master's Degree in Barristering.
Now that I have set the Legal background, let me get back to the review that roped me into thinking about British Law. From the review:
"starring Maxine Peake as uncompromising young QC Martha Costello and Rupert Penry-Jones as Clive Reader, her sneering posh-boy rival in chambers."
QC Costello is uncompromising, she wants to win, but unQC Reader is not sneering. He was in the first part of the first series, he was a cool sunglasses wearing Ladies man who was going for the "Silk" as was Costello, but somewhere in the first series that all came undone. Reader slept with his "Pupil" who was some sort of apprentice for Common Barrister and led a break for freedom from the current Barrister Law Office to join another Barrister Law Office that went bad. The Head Clerk found out....
I wrote this a while back and pooped out at this point, I might as well post it. I doubt that I will finish it.